Box Score

VERMILLION, S.D. – Looking to close out its five-match road trip with a pair of wins this weekend, the IUPUI volleyball team accomplished the first half of its goal Friday evening defeating South Dakota 3-1 (25-12, 20-25, 25-17, 25-21) in Summit League action at the Dakota Dome.

The Jaguars, who entered the match ranked first in the Summit League in conference-only matches in hitting percentage, hit .209 collectively compared to just .131 for the Coyotes. In the third set alone, IUPUI (14-7; 7-2 SL) managed to hit .429 with 22 of its 25 points in the set coming on kills.

“To have 22 of our points in one set come off kills shows that when we are clicking offensively, we’re hard to stop,” said head coach Steve Payne. “We know that we’re not always going to be hitting like that offensively, but tonight when we weren’t, our blocking and our digging were excellent helping us get the win.”

Moriah Fair led the team with 15 kills on the night, and was joined in double figures by Kaitlyn Hickey and Kelsey Hoefer, who posted 14 kills apiece. Hickey hit .340 en route to her 14 kills and also added a match-best 22 digs.

IUPUI got off to a fast start in the opening set using three kills, an ace and a block to sprint out to a 5-0 lead forcing South Dakota to burn an early timeout. Despite USD cutting its deficit to one at 5-4, IUPUI never relinquished the lead and used five Coyotes miscues to its advantage as its lead escalated to 13-6.

Following a South Dakota side out, a Bethany Fogler and Kelly Wachtel block preceded three Hickey kills, a Wachtel kill and a another USD attack error pushing the Jags lead to double digits at 19-7. The rest of the set, the Jags lead never fell below double figures and IUPUI cruised to a 25-12 opening-set win.

South Dakota seized control early in set two and never really allowed IUPUI to make a run. The closest IUPUI closed within was 12-11 midway through set two, but just as that occurred, a four-point run widened the Coyotes lead back to five, 16-11. Down the stretch, the Jaguars could not dwindle their deficit below three eventually leading to a 25-20 USD victory, knotting the match at one set apiece.

Out of the intermission, IUPUI got back to what worked in the first set using four kills by Fair, two by Hoefer, one by Hickey and a block from Fogler and Hoefer to jump in front, 8-2. For the remainder of the set, the Jaguars lead never dipped below five points as 15 of their final 17 points came off kills from five different players leading to a 25-17 third-set win.

While the offense dominated in set three, the IUPUI defense took over in set four. Four blocks allowed the Jags to take a 9-5 advantage forcing South Dakota to use a timeout to regroup. Two more blocks helped widen the lead to 12-6, before IUPUI eventually took control at 20-9. Just when it looked like IUPUI would easily take the fourth set, South Dakota stormed back within two at 23-21 forcing an IUPUI timeout. Out of the timeout, a Coyotes service error and a kill from Kortni Wright finished off a 25-21 fourth-set win for IUPUI.

The win helped keep the Jaguars perfect against South Dakota all-time in four tries, and it marked IUPUI’s third straight road victory.

The Jags conclude their five-match road trip on Sunday, Oct. 14, when they travel to Kansas City, Mo., to face off against Kansas City. The match is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET.